Heathrow Scientific 50 mL Sterile Conical Tubes - HS4427 Series | DNase/RNase-Free, 4 Configurations

The 50 mL conical is the highest-volume format that fits a standard benchtop centrifuge rotor — and the range of decisions that come with ordering it is wider than any other tube format in the lab. Heathrow Scientific 50 mL Sterile Conical Centrifuge Tubes cover every configuration this format comes in: natural translucent bulk-wrap (HS4427B) for standard bench use, natural racked (HS4427R) pre-loaded in chipboard racks of 25 for tissue culture workflows where tubes go from storage to centrifuge without intermediate handling, natural skirted-bottom bulk-wrap (HS4427S) for hands-free self-standing during sample additions, and opaque black bulk-wrap (HS4429) for light-sensitive samples that cannot tolerate ambient photon exposure during any processing step. All four are individually gamma-sterile with a 3-year shelf life, DNase/RNase-free by lot, and rated between 9,400 and 9,500 × g — the performance specs that matter in the protocols that define this tube size.

Features and Benefits

• Gamma-irradiated to SAL 10⁻⁶, 3-year sterility expiration across all four configurations — the same sterility assurance level regardless of natural/black or bulk/racked format; bulk case purchasing within the 3-year window is validated and cost-effective for high-volume labs

• Skirted bottom (HS4427S) stands upright on any flat surface without a rack — the skirted base prevents dropped tubes during reagent addition and resuspension steps when both hands are occupied; eliminates the rack requirement in biosafety cabinets where surface real estate is limited

• Racked format (HS4427R) ships 20 racks × 25 tubes — chipboard, recyclable — racks transport from storage shelf to centrifuge and back to the biosafety cabinet without intermediate tube handling; recyclable chipboard reduces single-use plastic waste in high-throughput labs versus polypropylene rack alternatives

• Imprinted 5 mL graduations to 50 mL — molded into tube wall, not surface-printed — survive repeated washing, media immersion, and alcohol decontamination without fading; provide accurate volume reference for media additions and resuspension steps without measuring cylinder transfers

• Flat polyethylene screw cap with writing area accepts labels and markers — flat cap top compatible with permanent marker and laboratory label printers for barcode and QR code labels used in LIMS-integrated sample tracking

• Black configuration (HS4429) rated to 9,400 × g — opaque at all processing steps — same light-blocking polypropylene as the black 15 mL and microtube formats; processes large-volume PBMC isolations, viral supernatants, and bioluminescent samples through centrifugation and incubation without foil wrapping

• DNase/RNase-free certified with lot-to-lot traceability — large-volume mRNA preparation, RNA extraction from bulk tissue, and viral vector production use 50 mL conicals at steps where nuclease contamination from the tube is not an acceptable variable; lot traceability satisfies GMP process development documentation requirements

Specifications

Laboratory Applications

• Mammalian Cell Culture — Large-Volume Harvest & Wash (Natural Bulk or Racked) — spin suspension cultures and trypsinized adherent cells at 300–400 × g for pellet-wash-resuspension; the racked format eliminates tube juggling in the biosafety cabinet where both hands are needed for decanting and resuspension of large cell pellets

• Lentiviral & AAV Vector Production — clarify viral supernatants by low-speed centrifugation at 800–1,000 × g; DNase/RNase-free certification protects encapsidated nucleic acid from tube-sourced nuclease degradation; lot traceability supports the documentation requirements of GMP-adjacent research manufacturing workflows

• Flow Cytometry — Large-Volume PBMC Isolation & Staining (Black, HS4429) — Ficoll-density gradient PBMC separations, bone marrow processing, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte expansions involve 50 mL-scale fluorescent samples with long staining incubations; black tubes protect FITC, PE, APC, and tandem dye signal fidelity through the full 4°C incubation without foil wrapping

• Environmental & Clinical Sample Collection (Skirted, HS4427S) — urine, bronchoalveolar lavage, and environmental water samples collected in 50 mL conicals benefit from skirted-base stability during sample addition, capping, and transport without a tube rack at point-of-collection or point-of-care settings

• Microbial Culture Harvest & Protein Expression Recovery — pellet 50 mL bacterial cultures at 4,000–8,000 × g for protein expression harvest and plasmid prep; the conical geometry concentrates pellets at the tube tip for efficient minimal-volume resuspension

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I choose the skirted bottom (HS4427S) over a standard conical bottom?
Choose the skirted bottom when tubes need to stand upright without a rack — during field or clinical sample collection, during reagent additions in a biosafety cabinet where a rack takes up needed space, or in any workflow where hands-free tube stability matters between steps. The trade-off: skirted tubes may not fit all centrifuge rotors designed for standard conical-bottom 50 mL geometry. Verify your rotor's tube position specifications before using HS4427S in a swing-bucket or fixed-angle rotor not rated for flat-base tubes. For centrifuge use, HS4427B (bulk) or HS4427R (racked) are universally compatible with standard 50 mL rotor positions.

What is the per-tube price difference across the four configurations?
Natural bulk (HS4427B) is $216/case/500 — $0.43/tube. Natural racked (HS4427R) is $231 — $0.46/tube. Natural skirted (HS4427S) is $225 — $0.45/tube. Black bulk (HS4429) is $337 — $0.67/tube. The $15 per-case premium for racked or skirted is recovered in handling time within days in a high-throughput tissue culture workflow. The black tube premium reflects the additional cost of the opaque polypropylene formulation and Taiwan manufacturing specification.

Are these tubes compatible with standard 50 mL conical centrifuge rotors?
The natural bulk (HS4427B), natural racked (HS4427R), and black bulk (HS4429) all have standard conical bottom profiles (29 mm outer diameter at base) compatible with 50 mL tube positions in Eppendorf, Thermo Fisher, Beckman Coulter, and Hettich rotors. The skirted variant (HS4427S) has a flat base flange — verify compatibility with your specific rotor model before centrifugation use.

Can I use these tubes in an ultracentrifuge?
No. The 9,400–9,500 × g maximum RCF rating applies to standard benchtop centrifuges. Ultracentrifugation operates at 100,000 × g and above — far beyond the structural limit of polypropylene 50 mL conical tubes from any manufacturer. Ultracentrifuge applications require purpose-rated tubes manufactured from thicker-wall polypropylene, polycarbonate, or PTFE in formats specific to ultracentrifuge rotor geometry.

Quality Assurance

Heathrow Scientific 50 mL conical tubes are gamma-irradiated to a sterility assurance level of 10⁻⁶ with a 3-year sterility expiration from the date of manufacture. DNase/RNase-free certification is documented per lot. The HS4427R racked format uses recyclable chipboard racks. The HS4429 black variant is manufactured in Taiwan to identical certification standards as the China-manufactured natural variants. All configurations comply with ISO general labware standards for polypropylene centrifuge tube geometry and performance.

Academic and Institutional Pricing

LabSupplies.com offers tiered quantity pricing for academic and research institutions. As an authorized dealer, we ship directly from USA inventory.